Childress was recognized for his partnership with Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in creating The Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma. The Institute’s goal is to help pave the way for others in the nation searching for ways to help save the lives of severely injured children and help those who survive on the road to recovery.

The Childress family has donated $5 million to the Medical Center to initiate the project. Wake Forest Baptist and the Childress family are working with a number of corporations and individuals to raise the additional $20 million to establish the Childress Institute.

The NMPA Pocono Spirit Award is designed to recognize character and achievement in the face of adversity, sportsmanship and contributions to motorsports. Each year, quarterly winners are selected, and an overall winner is selected by a vote of the NMPA membership. The 2008 overall winner will be announced during the NMPA's annual convention and awards ceremony in January 2009.

Also receiving votes in the third quarter were Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson.

NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Juan Pablo Montoya was the first-quarter winner and longtime NASCAR photographer T. Taylor Warren was the second-quarter winner.